Today I was cruising along on the way to town, I was stuck behind a guy doing about 35-40 (55 Zone) we hit a passing lane and the 2 cars ahead of me (white toyota, and black honda) both get on it, and pass the guy, I wasnt in any hurry, so I just cruised on past the guy and was just driving along in the fast lane (no other cars behind me) So, I come up a little hill and as I do, the toyota and honda both get over into the slow lane right as a State Patrol comes over the hill, So, I dont reallly think much of it because I looked down and saw 63 mph (Ive got a digital dash so its not to hard to see how fast Im going)

I am driving along and about 3 miles from when I first saw the cop I look in my rearview and there he is, Im like oh, hmm, wierd, he turned on his strobes and I turned my turn signal on and got over as far as I could to let him by me, but, he just stayed right on me, so I pulled over.

He asked me what the emergency was and I was like, well, nothing, Im just going to town... he asked for my license and registration and he ran that and came back, he asked me if I had happened to look down when I saw him and I said "yeah, I did, and my dash said 63mph, I have stock sized tires and Im sure its correct" then he told me he got me on his gun at 77mph!! I was a little surprised to say the least, so to make this short, he gave me a ticket and let me go on my merry way.

Now the thing is, I can fight this and basically, its his word vs mine.. I think he probably got radar from one of the 2 cars ahead of me, but, my car does stand out, I had my fog lights on, my car is bright blue and it is also a sports car.. so I think he may have just assumed that I was the one speeding?

I dont know how the guns work, or anything, so someone correct me if I am wrong.

My other option is I can just go up, plead no contest or guilty, and pay the reduced fine. Im thinking that if I go up, plead not guilty, and then deal with a judge what I am going to say?

I was exceeding the limit, but 63 is alot different than 77. Basically, I think im just screwed.

I know everyone makes mistakes, and the guy did seem new, so the chances he could have made an error is always possible. Just sucks that it had to happen to me.

-Roshambo

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-Joe
1988 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 - 305 TPI, 700R4, 3.23 Posi, Digital Dash, Leather Seats, Maui Blue with Silver GFX, T-tops, Tinted Glass, Gutted MAF, TB Coolant Bypass, K&N Cone Filter, No Cat, 3" exhaust from Y-pipe back, MSD Super Coil, Accel 8mm wires, L98 Aluminum Heads, Ported and Polished Plenum, Siamesed Intake, Aluminum Driveshaft, Edelbrock 3 point Strut Tower Brace

 

Holy cow, fight that ticket!! Radar works by bouncing the signal back off the largest object in its view. Before you go to court request the calibration records of the speedo AND the radar gun, if they fail to send you either and a copy of the written report make sure you tell the judge that and he will dismiss the case.
Hopefully they don't have those speedo and radar gun calibration records.

 

Radar works in a cone shape and, as doug said, returns the signal of the largest object in it's cone range.

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1987 IROC-Z T-Tops wait... GUTTED MAF!

 

Also, i know this doesn't help much this time, and this goes for everyone,

ALWAYS ASK TO SEE THE GUNS READOUT WHEN YOU GET PULLED OVER

i have had the cop tell me i can go 3 times just because i ask to see the readout.

 

but that doesn't always work because they have to lock the readout in order for it to be displayed. alot of times they don't do that.

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1987 IROC-Z T-Tops wait... GUTTED MAF!

 

Then that is the officers problems.
they HAVE to show you the readout if you ask. it is the law.

 

But if you don't ask, its not gonna help you in court. Basically, plead your case to the judge and you are almost certain to at the very least get a reduced fine. Good luck.

 

yeah i know it won't help for this one, but it is something to let everyone know about. so that maybe someone else won't be caught in this situation.

 

Yeah, but, if I plead not guilty, go to court and the gung ho Stater shows up, I am SCREWED! The judge wont believe me, it is all his word vs mine.

Hmm, me = 21 year old male, drives Trans Am, has one speeding ticket.

Joe = screwed in his *** .

I cant afford to pay the full fine, and possibly court costs. Im thinking it would go like this:

Me - I wasnt going 77MPH
Judge - How fast were you going?
Me - 63 Mph
Judge - Isnt the speed limit 55?
Me - Runs around and throws a chair at the judge

But seriously... besides the gun calibration thing, im screwed. maybe I should paint my car Silver so it blends in more...

-Roshambo

 

You're hosed. When you go to court they're going to ask you if you were speeding. Makes no difference what the speed was. They'll mark you as guilty. You're better off pleading and getting it reduced.

Just so you know it's not possible for them to pinpoint you among a group of cars with a radar gun. It's not even possible to get a consistent reading. However, he likely had laser which does give him the capability to select you from a group. A lot of them can also read you from the back after you've gone by.

 

Dude, trust me on this one, I've been there! Go to court. The trooper WILL NOT SHOW UP. He cannot possibly be present at every hearing for tickets hes written. There will be many people in court for the same thing you are. The judge will read what the officer has written on the ticket and ask if you want to say anything. All of the people there for speeding tickets will say the same thing, "I don't believe I was going that fast." Or some other such BS. No matter what, you will have to pay a fine. But, every time I've been before the judge, myself and everyone else who said they didn't feel they were speeding got a much reduced fine. Those few idiots who said, "yes I was speeding" got the full fine. Remember, this is the voice of experience talking!

 

Roshambo,

Something similar happened to me a few years back when i had my Rx7. Forgive me for haveing owned an import or three Anyhow, i was comming home from Bremerton and I was going up a hill when a Cordova (huge car) came along passing me doing about 70mph. On HY 16, the speed limit was 50 in that zone. Anyway, a cop clocked him from the opposite direction and gave me the ticket. I took it to court and won! The officer did not show, and the judge beleived me...it was true..HONNEST! I would fight it becasue all it will cost you is a little time. If you loose, oh well, no big woop!

 

If the judge asks you if you were speeding, say something like, I do not think i was? I was going with the flow of traffic. Be honnest by all means but you want to through in a reality.

 

Joe,

Court appearances for cops are usually overtime, I would not gamble on a no-show.

You should fight it for several reasons though. Here are your choices:

"Guilty" I'm a bad boy and here's my money. Please raise my insurance.

"Guilty with an explanation" I'm a bad boy but let me tell the court why before pay my money and you raise my insurance.

"Nolo Contendere" which is Latin for No Contest, otherwise known as I'm guilty but don't want to say so. Here's my money, go ahead and raise my insurance.

"Not Guilty" This is the plea you are interested in if you want to save money.


http://www.paynofine.com/

http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/tick-fig.html

Don

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59,000 miles
5.0 TPI
WS6 (.92g)
3:27 Posi
Hi Flow MAF
K&N
My Car

[This message has been edited by 85 T/A WS6 (edited November 08, 2001).]

 

I agree with Don! Hey Don, long time no hear! Not guilty, just as I was when that car passed me on the left as we crested a hill and a cop clocked HIM not me but gave me the ticket. And I did get out of it!

 

Hiyas craiger

Just checkin in once in a while from work, waiting for my cable to come back up (no CS sux) I went to the XP launch in Seattle last week, nothing else exciting has been going on

Drop in sometime if your ever in the Tide Flats area

Don

 

Yeah, Im not going to lie about it because, if he got me, he got me. But in this case I dont think Im going to be as lucky as you Craiger. Ive talked to a few cops about this (because Im friends with local city cops.. ohh, and no, they cant help me out ) and they said like what Don said, dont count on a no show, and that since it is his word against mine (someone who has a prior record of 1 speeding ticket) then basically Im screwed. If I go in there and the judge says, ok, well how fast were you going? And I say well, I was going with the flow of traffic, he would then go hmm, says here you said you were going 63, explain that for me... then, Id have to start up with the chair throwing again

I really dont have alot of gripes with this country, but one would have to be the way the policing of the highways is done. The fact that I can get profiled and then ****ed for it pisses me off. I know the stater isnt perfect, but its screwy that this guy can do like do some training, and then he all of the sudden is the "law" I dunno, when this sort of thing happens it just rubs me the wrong way.

-Roshambo

 

You think you get profiled for driving a 3d gen. Try a primered black 68 chevelle. Drove mine back and forth from the coast to WSU for 2 years. I managed to get pulled over 50 times!! (you think i'm joking dont ya! ) All for bull**** reasons. Never did get an actual ticket. Got one fix-it ticket for loud exhaust, a warning for dark window tint, and a warning for going too slow??! Even got searched once. The buddy who was with me is now our county jailer. Crazy.

 

damn dude! Should have written Internal Affairs... John D could fill ya in on that.

Jess

 

A state trooper is no-way, no-how, gonna appear in court for a speeding ticket!!! Accident hearing or some type of felony, sure. Troopers write WAY too many tickets to show in court for all of them. And as I said before, I've done this a few times!